For the briefest of moments, she felt like giving in. She wanted to let go of what little control she had in her life. She’d let Garrett find her and face the consequences. She wanted to tell her whole story to Ryker, to have him comfort her, just as he was doing now, and maybe even promise to protect her.
But then she pulled back. No, those types of thoughts were dangerous. She couldn’t let Garrett anywhere near Ryker, or Mikey, for that matter. And right now, Ryker had no idea what she was upset about. If he knew she had an angry, violent ex-boyfriend on her tail, he’d probably put as much distance between them as possible. She had to keep reminding herself that they’d only just met. He knew nothing about her.
Though it broke her heart to do so, she forced herself to step away. She wiped her cheeks dry with the ball of her palm and turned her face from him.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to lose it on you.”
His brow furrowed in concern as he looked down at her. He reached out and lightly touched her elbow. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I can’t.”
“I want to help you, Jenna, but I can’t if you don’t let me.”
“Why?” she said, suddenly angry with him. “Why do you want to help me? We just met and you’re rescuing me off the side of the road, and taxiing me around town, finding me somewhere to stay, and bringing me food. Haven’t you got anything better to do with your time?”
His jaw tightened, his blue eyes growing a shade darker in the bright, morning sunlight. “Jenna, the person standing before me right now looks like she needs help. She looked like she needed help when she was struggling down the side of the road after her car broke down, and she looked like she needed help when she found herself without transport in a strange town. As far as I can see, you’re still in need of help now. I like you, Jenna. So shoot me, but when I saw you struggling with your bags down the road, with your pony tail bouncing and, to be honest, the sight of your ass moving kind of got my attention, I wanted to stop for you. And then I pulled over and your face was even cuter than the rest of you, and I literally had to stop myself staring at the way your t-shirt was damp and clingy, I figured I was pretty much the luckiest guy on earth to have been the one to drive by right at that moment.”
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. The negative voice in her head piped up, wanting to say ‘but my ass is huge, and my breasts aren’t perky enough’, but she managed to stop the words coming out of her mouth.
“I... I...” she stuttered, not knowing how she was going to finish the sentence.
He continued to talk, saving her from her embarrassment. “Seriously, Jenna. Just getting to spend a little time in your company was enough of a reward for me to want to help you. So let me help you now.”
She thought of something. “You can help me by fixing my car.”
“The parts won’t be in until tomorrow, at the earliest.”
“Can’t you do some work on it before then? I don’t know, take out the broken parts, or something?”
“I can, but it’ll only save about an hour. Is that really going to make a difference to you?”
She thought of Garrett following her, tracing down the last place she’d gone on line, or used a bank card, or had taken money out of her account. He’d received a two year driving ban, together with his jail sentence, but that wouldn’t stop him borrowing or even stealing a car and coming after her. She imagined leaving town just as he’d pulled into it and started asking questions. She could be more than an hour any direction from here before he’d even realized she’d left.
Of course, he could be here already.
Quickly, she glanced around. He might be standing in the road, hiding behind a car. Or standing in a shop window watching Ryker put his arms around her. Garret would never put up with that. He’d kill Ryker just for laying a finger on her. Ryker might look like he could handle himself, but Garrett had a mean streak, and that made all the difference. She’d seen men twice Garrett’s size go down in a fight because they’d underestimated him.
“Yeah, an hour could make all the difference,” she said.
She should have thought of this, should have planned for what she’d do if her car broke down. She briefly considered abandoning the car and getting a bus to the next town, but she’d be easier to track if she used public transport. Garrett would be able to ask around and someone would recognize her, then he’d know exactly what direction she’d headed in and what towns were on that route.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on with you?” Ryker asked. “It’s to do with a guy, isn’t it?”
She sighed, finally giving in. “Yeah, an ex-boyfriend who is a nasty piece of work. I’m trying to stay ahead of him.”
“He’s following you? Can’t you get a restraining order or something?”
She almost laughed. “He won’t pay any attention to restraining orders.”
“The police would.”
“Only if they caught him before he killed me.”
“You really think he’s that bad?”
She nodded, miserably. “I know he is.” She wanted to tell him that he’d almost killed her once before and that she still had the scars to prove it, but she didn’t want to go down that route. Ryker seemed to have some starry-eyed idea about her, not even caring that she was thirty pounds overweight or that she acted like an over-emotional crazy person. But she knew she’d never be able to reveal that ugliness to him, even more so now. She couldn’t stand to see the way he looked at her change. Even if she walked away from him now, she’d cherish the few memories he’d unwittingly given her. She didn’t want to put the thought in his head that if someone could do that to her, then what sort of person did that make her?
“So stay with me,” Ryker announced out of the blue. “Stay with me until this creep catches up with you, and we’ll see if my fist works better than a restraining order.” His eyes were hard, his muscles tensed. His fists had balled by his sides and Jenna realized he was furious.
“I can’t ask you to do that. This isn’t your problem.”
“I’ll make it my problem. It makes me fucking crazy to know you’re terrified and running away from some jackass who wants to hurt you.”
“No, Ryker. This is exactly what I didn’t want.” She meant what she said, but she couldn’t help a small part of her inside dancing with delight. Did he really want to protect her, look after her, take care of her? It had been such a long time since anyone had wanted to do such a thing. “Anyway, you have Mikey to think about. You wouldn’t want to put him in any kind of danger. Especially not for some girl you just met. He should be your priority.”
His face grew serious. “Jenna, I would never put Mikey in any kind of danger. He’s always been my priority and always will be. I gave up a lot of my own life for that kid, but I don’t regret a second of it, even if he can be a pain in the ass. But listen to me about this as well, you are not just ‘some girl’. You’re important, too.”
Tears bubbled up inside her again, but she pressed her lips together, and swallowed hard, holding them back. When she managed to speak, her voice cane out strangled. “I’m nothing. I’m a nobody.”
He reached down and grabbed her hand, hard enough to hurt. “Don’t ever think that. Everyone on this planet is important to someone.”
Not me, she wanted to say. The only person who gives a shit about me is the same person who wants to see me hurt, or even dead.
“I don’t want you involved in this, do you hear me? If you don’t want me to get the next bus out of here, you need to promise to drop all the macho bullshit. You have no idea what this guy is like. Please, just fix my car and then let me get the hell out of here, okay?”
His eyes studied her face, as if trying to assess her expression for a tiny crack in her determination. But he sighed, obviously not finding one. “Okay,” he said, “but I’m not going to leave you on your own like this.
Come with me to the garage and I’ll see what work I can get on with on your car, and I’ll even chase the parts up. How does that sound?”
She smiled. “Sounds good, Ryker, thanks.”
“Come on then.” His arm was around her waist as he guided her toward his truck. She was grateful for the support. The events of that night and morning had left her drained.
But even as he walked her to his truck, she couldn’t shake the sensation of being watched. She told herself it was just the people from the café getting a little drama with their morning coffee and bagel, but still the banging from during the night haunted her. No, she was being silly. If he was here, he’d make himself known. Garrett was never one for extending the pleasure of hurting her. He didn’t have enough self control for that.
But a year in jail might have changed that, a warning voice spoke inside her head.
Jenna climbed into Ryker’s truck and settled herself in the passenger seat, while Ryker walked around to the driver’s side. Within a few minutes, they were driving through town, heading in the opposite direction they had the previous day.
They passed the high school and Jenna thought of Ryker’s brother.
“Mikey doesn’t mind missing a day off school then?” she asked.
Ryker glanced at her. “Are you kidding? I think that’s why he acts up most of the time. He just doesn’t want to be there.”
“Can’t say I blame him,” she mused. “I hated high school.”
“Does anyone like high school?”
Jenna laughed. “You know I had exactly the same conversation with Mikey yesterday.”
Ryker lifted his eyebrows. “You got him to speak?”
“Yeah, wasn’t much. But he did manage a few words.”
“Wow, he must really like you.”
It was her turn to lift her eyebrows. “You think?”
“The only thing Mikey talks to is the television screen when he’s gaming, and then it’s normally only to yell insults.”
“He seems okay with you,” she said, remembering the ribbing Mikey had given Ryker earlier after Ryker had tracked her down.
Ryker’s face fell and his tone grew serious. “I’m the only person he’s got.”
Jenna wanted to put her arms around him, and burying her face in his neck, kiss his skin and stroke his hair, but instead she just gave an awkward smile and glanced out of the window. She couldn’t let herself grow attached to this man, though she feared her heart wouldn’t pay any attention to her on that front. As soon as her car was fixed, she’d be leaving Arlington, and Ryker, far behind.
Ryker pulled up at the garage and jumped out. Jenna climbed out as well, jumping down from the passenger side and following Ryker into the garage. The interior was shaded—a welcome respite from the increasing heat of the day.
“Where’s the guy who works for you?” she asked.
“Sam?”
“Yeah, Sam.”
“He’s probably on a call-out. He used to work for my dad, so I trust him to work his own hours. I don’t want him to feel like he has to answer to me.”
“You must be a good boss,” she said with a smile.
He shrugged. “I do the best I can.”
Ryker headed into the back of the garage and began to get some tools together. Her car still sat in the same position as it had yesterday. She felt strange seeing it here, as if she’d already mentally distanced herself from the vehicle.
“Make yourself at home,” Ryker called out. “There’s a coffee machine out back, and you can sit behind the counter, if you want.”
“Great, thanks.” She’d not managed to finish her coffee at the coffee shop. “You want some?”
“Sure.”
Ryker got to work as Jenna busied herself fixing the drinks. When they were done, she went over to where Ryker’s feet poked out from beneath the bottom of her car, and placed the coffee mug near the wheel.
“Coffee’s right there,” she told him, making him jump.
His voice came from beneath the car. “Jeez, Jenna, I almost brained myself then.”
She laughed. “Sorry.”
She made herself comfortable behind the counter, taking sips of the hot, strong coffee while Ryker talked to her as he worked beneath the chassis of her car. Both their voices were raised so they could hear each other.
“So what kind of work do you do that lets you move around all the time?” Ryker called out.
“Oh, I’m a writer.”
“What like novels?”
“No.” Her cheeks heated. “I write copy edit.”
“What’s that?”
He dropped something, the item clanging on the ground, and he swore.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, fine. You were telling me about what you write.”
Dammit, she thought, she’d been hoping he’d forget the topic. “It’s basically advertising but in the written form. So, if someone is putting a catalogue together, I write the description of the product.”
He pulled himself out from beneath the car. “What sort of things do people get you to write about?”
The color in her cheeks deepened. “Lots of different things. Toys... and stuff.”
“What kind of toys?” He looked sexy with black streaked across his jaw. His full lips were pursed and he studied her with his intense blue eyes. From where he stood, she could smell the hint of cologne and engine oil.
“Jesus, Ryker.” Her eyes widened at him trying to tell him without needing to say the words. “You know... toys!”
“Oh!” He pressed his lips together, trying to repress a smile, and his eyes moved up and down her body. “I’m going to start a list of all the surprising things I discover about Jenna Armstrong.”
“Well, I don’t even know your surname,” she said, wanting to change the subject.
“It’s Russo. The name’s above the door.”
So it was. She hadn’t noticed the garage was called ‘Russo’s’.
“Sounds more like you should be a restaurant,” she said.
“Except I have no idea how to cook!”
She couldn’t help the flirtatious tone entering her voice. “And there I was thinking you were perfect.”
“Oh, I make up for it in other ways,” he said, a wicked smile on his face.
But she was never going to find out. She needed to leave, and even if she didn’t need to leave, she could never have a relationship with him—not the kind of relationship he would want anyway.
She fell quiet, but he misunderstood the reason for her silence.
Ryker glanced down at her. “You don’t need to worry, Jenna. No one is going to hurt you when you’re with me, I promise.”
She just wished it was a promise he was able to keep.
Chapter Seven
Ryker finished what work he could on her car, and then made a couple of calls to suppliers to chase up the parts.
Jenna watched him expectantly as he thanked whoever was on the other end of the line, and hung up.
“Well?” she asked.
“The parts have been shipped. We can’t do any more than that.”
She chewed on her lower lip. “What happens if the parts don’t come in?”
He shrugged, but a small smile tugged his mouth. “I guess you’ll have to stay an extra day.”
“I can’t, Ryker. I already explained that.” She thought of something. “Anyway, I won’t have anywhere to stay after tonight. The motel is already booked out, remember.”
“No problem. I’ve got a spare room. You can stay with me.”
She glared at him. “No, I can’t! Stop pushing me on this.”
He raised his hands in submission, but laughed as he did so. “Okay, okay. I won’t mention it again—at least until the time comes when you find yourself with nowhere to stay, then we’ll talk.”
“Why is the motel booked out for tomorrow anyway?”
He grinned. “It’s our annual tomato festival.”
“Tomat
o festival?”
“Yeah, there will be a parade and bands playing, a tomato eating contest, plus who has grown the ugliest tomato competition.”
She couldn’t help laughing. “Seriously?”
“Of course. Didn’t you notice the posters around town?”
“I guess I was a little pre-occupied.” She didn’t want to think about the reason why. “So what else happens?”
“There’s a fun run. Do you like to run?”
She spread her arms out either side of her body. “Do I look like I run?” He shrugged as an answer. “If I’m running,” she continued, “it’s ‘cause something is chasing me.”
Ryker chuckled. “Okay, I get it, you don’t plan on running. The best part doesn’t come until the evening.”
Jenna grimaced. “I’m almost too scared to ask.”
He moved closer, sidling his hips toward hers. Her heart picked up its pace, her breath catching. Their proximity was so near, his breath heated her face, the hairs of his arms tickling hers. “In the evening, beautiful Jenna, that’s when the tomato throwing starts.”
Her voice came out breathy. “Tomato throwing?”
“Oh, yes.” He stepped even closer, and leaned forward and down, his mouth against her ear. “And I can’t wait to cover you in ripe tomato juice, so you’d better not leave before then.”
She didn’t know if she should melt into a puddle or giggle. “I guess I could be persuaded.”
He turned his head and suddenly his lips pressed against hers, soft and warm and firm. Her eyes slipped shut, her arms wrapping around his neck. Ryker deepened the kiss, teasing her lips open with his tongue, the ball of his piercing brushing against her upper lip. She tasted the coffee she’d made as the kiss grew hungrier. His hands ran down her back, sliding over the curve of her ass. She kissed him back, matching his fervor, arching her back so her breasts pressed into his chest. She had to suppress a moan that threatened to burst from between her lips. A throb, low and deep in her belly, sent a pulse of pleasure though her. The sensation was like a defibrillator to her brain, reminding her of everything standing between them.
Dangerous Encounters: A Romantic Suspense Boxed Set Page 47
